Transit grail is one-seat ride to NYC
$5.4 million study advances idea
By KATHY KAHN
Rome wasn’t built in a day. Neither
was rapid and easily accessible mass transit, something
Hudson Valley to New York City-bound commuters are
longing for.
Four decades and three studies are slowly but surely
advancing what U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer predicts will
ultimately create a one-seat ride into Manhattan.
Stewart International Airport’s main terminal was abuzz
with politicians on May 9, all ready to hear money
is coming to make commuting less cumbersome to and
from the Port Authority’s fourth major airport.
First comes the study.
Schumer, along with Metropolitan Transit Authority
CEO Elliot “Lee” Sander, U.S. Rep. John Hall, Orange
County Executive Ed Diana, Metro- North CEO Peter Cannito
and others announced a $5.4 million alternative analysis
study is set to begin by June 2, with the Port Authority
matching the MTA’s $2.7 million grant.
The study is expected to take 12 to 14 months; then,
an environmental impact study will take place. When
all is said and done, Schumer says it will be time
to break ground, creating a Stewart-to-Salisbury Mills
connection on the MTA’s Port Jervis line. The cost
is estimated at $200-500 million when completed. Variables
include how fast studies can be completed, the litigious
fervor of plan opponents and what construction prices
will be when ground is broken.
Schumer credited his predecessor, the late Sen. Daniel
Patrick Moynihan, with first proposing the vision of
creating mass transit for those who would be moving
north and west of the New York City.
“We will look back on this day as when talk about a
rail link to Stewart turned to action," said Schumer.
Schumer predicted a rail link and a one-seat ride to
Manhattan through New Jersey Transit’s new Hudson River
tunnel will help grow the airport as a strong regional
hub, as well take 30,000 cars off the road each day.
“Those are people who are driving to work; that number
will only continue to grow as the region grows,” said
Hall.
The ultimate goal is to link the MTA’s lines west of
the Hudson to the new $7 billion tunnel in New Jersey.
Known as Access to the Region’s Core (ARC), it would
eliminate the need to switch trains inbound for Manhattan
at the Secaucus transfer station. ARC is a joint venture
between NJ Transit and the Port Authority of New York
and New Jersey. The two agencies predict work will
begin in 2009 and take at least two to four years to
complete.
Schumer praised Sander and the Port Authority for working
together to get the $5.4 million needed to start the
alternative analysis study now, rather than waiting
for an earmark. “Earmarks are iffy,” Schumer said,
“and the area is better served by having this project
start now rather than later.”
Schumer also pledged another $6 million in federal
funding to help pay for the environmental impact study.
“And we’re going to hold you to that,” smiled Orange
county executive Ed Diana, present for the announcement
in Stewart’s main terminal.
While Rockland and Orange counties depend on Metro-North’s
Port Jervis line, many commuters hope a one-seat ride
into Manhattan via the new Tappan Zee bridge will be
created and bypass the Garden State entirely.
Sander says he supports ARC. And while a one-ride side
for west-of-the-Hudson riders over a new Tappan Zee
bridge would be a plus, the plans to put some type
of rail link – or even prepare the bridge for a future
one – are only in the talking stages.
“ARC is happening,” said Sander. “It is going to help
the region and our goal is to think of this as a regional
project.”
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